NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable companies, burdened by the cost of programing, are starting to seriously consider something they have long resisted: letting television subscribers pay for just those channels they want to watch.

For years consumer advocates, regulators and politicians have argued that cable TV providers should allow consumers to choose their own TV channels or buy smaller packages, rather than bundle around 100 fixed channels at prices usually starting around $50 a month.

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Members of a powerful House committee are pressing the Federal Communications Commission to put a stop to how AT&T Inc. (T) offers public and educational programming on its fledgling paid TV service.

On the eve of a Congressional hearing regarding what has happened to Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels since the passage of statewide or state issued franchise legislation, it is heartening to note that the cable and telecom industries (and the FCC) have severely overplayed their hand. Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will hear a laundry list of harms done to PEG in what appears to be an industry-wide effort to bury and destroy these local channels. An effort that was spawned by the FCC’s First and Second Report and Order on Video Franchising and the nineteen states that passed the state legislation. These harms come at a time when Congress and the American people are acutely sensitive to media consolidation and the loss of localism.

Note: A little confusion in this worthy article. PEG is a public interest requirement that applies to cable TV and that resulted from the original Cable Act. Broadcast TV, which includes the new digital TV channels, originally created PBS in the 1960's as the 'public' and non-commercial component of that system. However, the giveaway of the new spectrum/channels for DTV should have had increased public interest obligations attached.

On Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power TV stations will cease to broadcast analog programming. This transition to digital television will enable more efficient use of the nation’s airwaves, providing new advanced wireless services and increased public safety services. To mark this historic transition, the Census Bureau has assembled a sampling of statistics from its publications about television and the television industry.

If the last 10 years have taught us anything, it's that the cable industry in the US is focused on openness, innovation, and customer satisfaction; but if we can't keep the government's knuckleheaded regulators out of our cable lines and off our Internet, cable's nearly absurd level of innovation will be throttled down more effectively than BitTorrent uploads on Comcast's network. Well, so says the cable industry, at least.